THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
316-4 
Woman and the Home 
From Day to Day. 
THANKSGIVING. 
Let us be thankful—not only because 
Since last our universal thanks were told 
We have grown greater in the world’s ap¬ 
plause 
And fortune's newer smiles surpass the 
old— 
But thankful for all things that come as 
alms 
From out the open hand of Providence; 
The Winter clouds and storms—the Sum¬ 
mer calms— 
The sleepless dread—the drowse of indo¬ 
lence. 
Let us be thankful—thankful for the pray¬ 
ers 
Whose gracious answers were long, long 
delayed 
That they might fall upon us unawares, 
And bless us, as in greater need, we 
prayed. 
Let us be thankful for the loyal hand 
That love held out in welcome to our 
own 
When love and only love could understand 
The need of touches we had never 
known 
Let us be thankful for the longing eyes 
That gave their secret to us as they 
wept, 
Yet in return found, with a sweet surprise, 
Love’s touch upon their lids, and, smiling 
slept. 
And let us, too, be thankful that the tears 
Of sorrow have not all been drained 
away, 
That through them still, for all the coming 
years, 
We may look on the dead face of to-day. 
—James Whitcomb Riley. 
* 
According to the preliminary census 
report there are nearly 3,000,000 more 
men in the United States than women. 
This is mainly due to immigration, the 
greater proportion of immigrants being- 
men. Seattle, Washington, leads all 
other cities in excess of male popula¬ 
tion, while Nashville, Tenn., shows the 
largest proportion of women. Evidently, 
according to these figures, no woman 
in the United States can be described 
as superfluous. 
* 
Here is an excellent recipe for raisin 
pie contributed by a Sullivan County, 
N. Y., housekeeper. It was new to us, 
and very good. One cup raisins, one 
cup sugar, one cup water, one table¬ 
spoonful flour, juice of one lemon and 
a little of the rind, if preferred. Chop 
the raisins fine in the meat grinder, put 
all ingredients together, and cook until 
thickened, stirring to avoid burning. 
Let the filling cool, and then use in 
pie with two crusts. 
* 
An English chemist, Prof. W. A. 
Bone of Leeds, recently made a dis¬ 
covery in flameless surface combustion. 
With the aid of an engineer, Prof. 
Bone has utilized his discovery in the 
invention of a toast-making machine, 
by which it is said 1,000,000 slices of 
bread can be toasted in an hour. The 
slices are laid on an endless band of 
steel running between two plates made 
incandescent by Prof. Bone’s system. 
It is said that every large hotel, if it 
would simplify its work, must use this 
mechanical toast maker. 
* 
Some of the newspapers have been 
describing the linen purchased for the 
Executive Mansion at Albany and 
taking Governor Dix to task because of 
the sheets that cost $47.25 each. The 
Governor responds tartly that new linen 
was imperatively needed, and that the 
things were only such as he would use 
at home. We are not told what style 
the new linen is; one may go to almost 
any expense in such purchases, where 
lace and embroidery is used; still, those 
sheets, with $9 each for marking them, 
do not sound like the simple life. We 
wonder just how many farmers’ wives 
there are through the State, fond of 
fine linen and proud of their homes, to 
whom the price of one sheet would 
come as a piece of unusual good for¬ 
tune, if it could be spent all at once 
in household gear! Here are the ar¬ 
ticles one might buy for an ordinary 
household: 12 sheets at $1.50 each, $18; 
12 pillow cases at 25 cents, $3; two 
dozen dinner napkins at $4 a dozen, 
$8; two tablecloths at $2.50 each, $5; 
one lunch cloth at $3.25; one dozen 
huck towels at $4 a dozen; one dozen 
Turkish towels at $6 a dozen; total, 
$47.25. There are a good many girls 
scattered here and there on farms 
throughout the State who would like 
to add that collection to the “Dorothy 
box” that takes the place of the old- 
time bride’s dower chest. We did not 
say anything about the $9 for marking 
the sheet which the newspapers refer 
to, but we have seen some smart little 
one-piece dresses of serge that cost just 
that much. This marking was not, of 
course, any makeshift of indelible ink, 
but the arms of New York, beauti¬ 
fully embroidered. All the State’s 
linen is properly marked, no doubt the 
special table linen calling for work of 
extra quality. 
* 
Little Hilda had a strong sense of 
the fitness of things, according to the 
Delineator. It was in the cyclone sea¬ 
son, and a bad storm having arisen in 
the night, the family were hastily pre¬ 
paring to go to the cellar. Little Hilda 
was hunting about in a great furore, 
unheeding her mother’s repeated com¬ 
mands to leave everything and hurry 
below. Her brother was finally obliged 
to go back and get her. As she was 
pulled along toward the cellar, the 
cause of her delay came out. “My 
stockin’s ain’t mates!” she protested in¬ 
dignantly, as she hung back and kicked. 
“Do you want me to be blowed ’way 
up in the air an’ off to some other town 
in one tan stockin’ an’ one black one?” 
Dyeing a Cotton Sweater. 
Is it possible to dye a cotton sweater? 
If so, kindly let me know in the next 
issue of The It. N.-Y. m. d. 
This inquiry would have been an¬ 
swered by mail, as we infer the infor¬ 
mation was required for immediate use, 
but lack of full address prevented this. 
Owing to the fact that matter for the 
woman’s department is sent to the print¬ 
ers considerably in advance of date of 
issue, it is about three weeks from the 
time an inquiry is received until it ap¬ 
pears in the paper. 
The chief difficulty in dyeing a sweat¬ 
er is drying it so as to keep the shape 
without stretching. Cotton could be 
dyed much more easily than wool. We 
would buy a ready-prepared dye for 
cotton, follow directions closely, and 
dry quickly out of doors oil a windy 
day, hanging carefully to avoid stretch¬ 
ing. If the sweater is hung over a 
coat hanger and buttoned, instead of 
pegged up, it keeps in shape better. 
One-Two-Three Conserve. —One cup 
of pineapple, two cups strawberries, three 
cups sugar. Cook the pineapple and 
sugar together first about 10 minutes, 
then put in strawberries as they do not 
want to cook to pieces. Cook 20 min¬ 
utes same as any jam or preserve. 
A. P. 
Thuringian Sauerkraut. —Last year 
you had inquiry about sauerkraut with 
apples and seeds. Have you no readers 
of Thuringian stock? It is an old 
Thuringian recipe. Make your sauer¬ 
kraut as usual and add same quantity 
of caraway seed (semen caray) by 
measure, not by weight, as of salt. 
After the first layer is stamped down 
they used in the old country to put 
some Borstdorfer apple in between the 
layers. I think a small Winter or or 
Smith Cider apple will do. In Thur¬ 
ingia kummel (caraway seed) is used 
quite frequently in baking and cooking. 
thuringer. 
The Rural Patterns. 
When ordering patterns always give 
number of pattern and measurement 
desired. 
The first group shows 7101 negligee 
in peasant style for misses and small 
women, 14, 16 and 18 years; 3 )4 yds. 
36, 3)4 yds. of banding, for 16 year 
size. 7585 loose fitting house jacket, 
34 to 44 bust; 3 yds. 36, with 4 yds. 
of banding, for medium size. 7209 
kimono for misses and small women, 
14, 16 and 18 years; 3 yds. 36 in. wide, 
with 1)4 yds. of contrasting material 
any width, for 16 year size. 7325 five 
gored petticoat for misses and small 
7325 _ 
women, 14, 16 and 18 years; 2)4 yds. 
36 in. wide, )4 yd. 36, for plaited frill, 
for 16 year size. 7577 seven gored 
petticoat, 22 to 32 waist; 3)4 yds. 36 
in. wide for plain petticoat, 2 yds. 36 
in. wide for circular flounce, 2)4 yds. 
of embroidery 12 in. wide for gathered 
flounce, for medium size. 
The second group includes 7579 Nor¬ 
folk blouse for misses and small 
women, 16 and 18 years; 2)4 yds. 36 
in. wide, with )4 yd. 27 for collar and 
cuffs, for 16 year size. 7599 fancy 
waist with vestee, 34 to 42 bust; 3)4 
yds. of material 27 in. wide, 2)4 yds. 
36, 1)4 yds. 44 with )4 yd. 27 in. wide 
for revers and collar, )4 yd. 18 in. wide 
for chemisette, 1)4 yds. lace for sleeve 
frills, for medium size. 7592 semi¬ 
princess gown, 34 to 42 bust; 4)4 yds. 
36 in. wide, with )4 yd. 27 for vestee, 
collar and cuffs, )4 yd. 18 for chemi¬ 
sette, for medium size. 7580 six gored 
skirt for misses and small women, 16 
and 18 years; A/ yds. of material 36 
in. wide, for 16 year size. 7596 five 
gored skirt, 22 to 32 waist; 5 yds. of 
material 36 in. wide, for medium size. 
Price of each pattern 10 cents. 
November 16, 
Heels and Happiness. 
“Well, I tell yer, if a horse ain’t got 
good feet what’s the rest of him worth?” 
This bit of equine valuation, overheard 
as the men sat talking of trades, or 
breeding, or some sort of horse gossip, 
somehow lodged itself in my brain and 
occasionally leaps into consciousness, 
reminding me that one thing I have to 
be thankful for is that I have only two 
feet. I am also made to consider the 
necessity of giving the feet the best of 
care, keeping them sensibly shod and 
equal to any service asked of them. 
If your feet are out of condition, 
what constant irritation to nerves, and 
what weariness out of proportion to 
the work accomplished! You may not, 
like a horse, be counted worthless, but 
your abilities certainly are lessened and 
your physical comfort well nigh spoiled. 
A city woman who had consulted her 
physician concerning a foot which gave 
her much trouble was told: 
“Men never suffer from these things, 
but half the middle-aged women have 
corns or callous places or some sort of 
foot bother.” 
Eventually this woman paid $8 to a 
skillful chiropodist, who removed what 
he pronounced to be a wart from the 
ball of her foot. The treatment was a 
daily application of caustic of some 
sort, a process needing skill and ex¬ 
perience, but effective in this case, for 
the lady now walks with comfort in¬ 
stead of misery. She has purchased a 
pair of broad-soled, low-heeled shoes, 
as sensible as a man’s footwear, and is 
resolved to forego the pleasures of 
being daintily shod for the sake of pain¬ 
less walking. 
Another city dweller wears always ex¬ 
cept in bad weather the soft-made low 
shoes because stiff leather brings acute 
discomfort, But she is obliged to have 
the high heels removed and rubber ones 
added. Other women resort to the low 
shoe worn by hospital nurses as the 
only footgear bearable. 
Was not the doctor right, and do not 
the majority of women who lead active 
lives pay the penalty that stylish shoes 
exact? A long illness will often bring 
this compensation, that all one’s corns 
and callouses will have time to get well. 
But a return to housekeeping or much 
walking will in time bring them all 
back again. With the whole foot held 
at an angle which keeps the weight of 
the body pressing the toes and ball of 
the foot against the shoe, what can 
nature do but protest in twinges of pain? 
Gradually, as we go on in life, one 
little pet vanity after another has to 
be surrendered. The surrender seems 
to be the trying part of the matter, so 
once a woman has given up high heels 
and elegance in footwear and settled 
onto a common-sense basis she is ready 
to rise into flights of poetry and quote: 
“There are gains for all our losses.” 
To know that her shoes are well 
blacked and the best in leather and 
finish she can afford is her standard of 
content along that line. 
Having the lower half of a shoe lieel 
removed and replaced by a rubber one 
gives a good deal of relief by lessening 
the concussion upon hard floors or side¬ 
walks. How the shoe dealer earns the 
half-dollar he will ask for this job is a 
puzzle, for rubber heels can be bought 
at the five and ten cent store. If minded 
to do the work at home, provide your¬ 
self with a hack-saw. for long nails 
run the length of those jaunty leather 
heels, and though you put the shoe in 
a vise and work ever so manfully with 
cold-chisel and hammer not a layer can 
you remove. But a hack-saw is inex¬ 
pensive and will not only cut off shoe 
nails, but prove useful in other emer¬ 
gencies where iron is to be severed. 
Give an ingenious boy the tools and he 
will be able to keep the entire family 
on rubber heels at 10 cents a pair. 
AUGUSTA ROSE. 
